How TriStar boss Nicole Brown bet on “Woman King” in the theater market rocked by the pandemic – Toronto

The winds of change emanating from Covid with films and broadcasts were at the top of the TIFF panel this morning. Dialogues: production and development which included TriStar president Nicole Brown, knives out Franchised manufacturer Ram Bergman e white noise Produced by Uri Singer.

It was an interesting story: this season the three are competing for the title of adult decoy. Brown, with Viola Davis, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood Brave Heart– like a movie a woman king Made is an executive in a studio dedicated to the theater. Before the pandemic, Bergman had a theatrical dream knives out ($ 311 million), sold the sequels to Netflix for $ 400 million, and the singer transformed white noise From the highly anticipated limited series premiered at the Venice Film Festival, directed and adapted by Noah Baumbach.

“I call the pandemic a great earthquake in Hollywood,” said Brown, “there has always been an influx, but it has encouraged this business and has shown consumers there is an opportunity to stay home and see interesting things.” .

But as adults they returned to the cinema, albeit slowly this summer, similar images Elvis Y where the locusts sing Brown says that “it is the less theatrical ideas that make sense; Ideas have to be great. Your cast must be as strong as possible. Your performance must be A +. There are no good theatrical films anymore. Everyone must be great. The bar has been raised for us, “added the TriStar president.

“You have to decide if it has the DNA to be a global Friday night movie,” Brown said, “and if it doesn’t, it’s okay to move on. Because the streaming market is a great place to move. “

Studio executives typically base their green decisions on “compositions”, old films and box office results, which can indicate how a future project will fare on the market. But for Sony and Brown, there’s a new instinct in this crazy Covid market: giving viewers something they’ve never seen before, for example. king woman

“It’s easier to say yes to something when you look back,” Brown explains. but with woman king “There was no compensation … never before. Why should we do this? This is an opportunity to do something new. Sony saw the value. We believed and accepted the bet. People have never seen it before, there is an opportunity. “

eOne tracking is currently co-sponsored woman king which opens on Friday, September 16, is expected to open at $ 13 million- $ 16 million. A talent rep not affiliated with the project told me recently that the image is best described as “world building”. king woman It has its world premiere here at TIFF tonight.

Given the market for insignificant features, more than ever manufacturers need to be agnostic about where their story will go. “You have to do what you have to do to make a movie,” Bergman stressed.

That said, Bergman doesn’t foresee an easy road ahead.

“I think there will be a lot of studios and streamers who will make fewer films than they do now and make less money,” the producer said. Who gets hurt? Medium-sized films, with micro-budget titles at even lower budgets.

He added: “Making intermediate films is becoming more and more difficult. People will get less money. There will be some sort of correction. “